Analysis of the Domestic Organic Product Market in Turkey in Comparison with the European Union Experience

Summary in the original language of the document

It is a fact that conventional agriculture whose distinctive property is the implementation of agricultural chemicals aims to increase economic productivity at the expense of creating serious side effects on health and environment. Therefore, the spread of this system in time, has led not only to the probing of its sustainability by making the side effects visible, but also to the ascent of organic agriculture which shows a faster worlwide development since the 1990s. The development of organic agriculture in the EU has also been similar. While the public recognition was realised in the 1990s, the official recognition could not come true before the 2000s. Especially the announcement of the EU in 2001 which put the main emphasis of the CAP on quality, rather than quantity reflects the important change in the EU’s point of view towards organic agriculture. However in Turkey, the organic agriculture is far away from receiving the deserved support and this situation leads Turkey to a position where Turkey is unable to use its high potential in organic agriculture. Regarding the fact that Turkey’s ability to use this potential and develop its organic agriculture depends on the development of the domestic organic market, Turkey can only achieve it by the means of state support and the implementation of necessary precautions.